Finished my essay into how graphic design can enhance communication in data visualisation & information graphics:
visualisationmagazine.com/dissertation.htm
"graphic design ‘sorts and differentiates, it informs, it helps to shape how we feel, see the world’" (Newark, 2002, p. 6)
I look into areas such as (please note these intermix with each other):
a. Mind and Vision
b. Communication
c. Perception and Reality
d. Semiotics
e. Graphics
Within this paper I explore the creative and innovative design techniques for mapping information to aid thinking, understanding, comprehension and reasoning. I summarized the key points into guidelines for the at-a-glance findings.
"it may be possible to utilise symmetry and geometry to aid vision when perceiving a visualisation to understand data" (Wood and Keller, 1996, p 256)
This consideration of the way the map designer represents the world is not just associated with that of geographic cartograms but also with the way the designer visualises complex data.
"if the designer retained 100% truth, they would no longer be mapping, representing aspects of geographic space, it would be entirely realisitic, the territory"
Read more:
visualisationmagazine.com/dissertation.htm.
Please discuss, comment, criticize, debate, enjoy!
Guidelines for when designing visualisations |
Opinion? Discuss, share here in Forum |
See Dissertation Proposal
I am pleased as this means I have passed my MA Contemporary Arts Practice at
York St John University investigating data visualisation, graphic design, information mapping. Read more background
about me. Dont worry, I will still be blogging, collating and compiling the magazines.
See more projects developed from my studies:
visualisation magazine.com
visualisationmagazine.com/blogvisualthinkmap
visualthinkmap.ning.com
Follow me on these services:
© Copyright Chris Watson / Visual Think Map 2009. All rights reserved.
Published on 2009/11/02 11:29 pm.
Filed under: abstract, cartography, clean, communication, complex, creative, data, design, designs, diagram, graphic, information, Uncategorized, visual thinking, visualisation, white space
punched face by-erik-johansson /
coffee world map by erik-johanssonWonderful manipulations in photoshop, go through the slides. It does challenge me to think, 'ok so he cut that out, masked over this, layered....' but very tidly done and wonderful to see. Below is one i had seen =, maybe by erik, who knows, but looked good. Face punched, face sucked.
Published on 2009/07/18 11:25 am.
Filed under: abstract, complex, creative, designs, dynamic, graphic, layer, manipulation, photoshop, visual thinking, visualisation
girl talk is the DJ name for gregg gillis and is great visual using colour to distinguish the different songs and layers of tracks that he mixes up along a neat circular timeline covering his slot. think there are sites that let you cut up tracks, will me check... www.splicemusic.com and there is the BBC music cubes, lets you build up your favourite tracks but not splice i think.
anyhow great visual with the artists faces jumping off for a bit of ease of
recognition.
think i saw it posted by randy k/coolinfographics.blogspot (sorry would post
hyperlink but need to dash to shop)
Also check out these (some previously posted)
love will tear us apart type by peter crnokrak / A_B_peace & terror by peter crnokrak posted here: Joy, Love, War, Peace
Languages Visual
the great sky scraper visual: Bank Space Sky Onion Visualisations
Map of Carnaby Street,
Adobe CS3 Icons Visual Map,
Watch the Evolution Design,
Dynamic
Time Visualisation &
Once More Around the Sun by bradford paley.
enjoy
Published on 2008/11/06 8:22 pm.
Filed under: circular, clean, colour, communication, connections, creative, designs, familiar, geographic, non linear, perspectives, visual maps, visual thinking, visualisation, white space
Visualization magazine volume 1 has a collection of 20 top examples that explore creative innovative modes of visual communication of information that i have featured at this site, plus other bits that will hopefully expand over time and member (you) would gratefully in time like to contribute, if you wanted.
Things like maps, diagrams, info graphics, mindmaps, brainstorms, sketchbooks,
notebooks, flowcharts, scientific visualization, process visualization etc. As I
say they are very good resources of inspiration for various design jobs as they
solve communication problems using easy to understand graphics. Seems a mouthful
but basically great graphics that look great (form) and communicate detailed
info quickly and easily (function).
http://issuu.com/visualthinkmap/docs/visualisationmagazinevol1
Published on 2008/09/28 5:08 pm.
Filed under: 3d, abstract, art, creative, designs, graphic, iconography, ideas, illustration, image, visual, visual thinking, visualisation
Problem solving [Ps], Visual thinking [Vt], Information [In], Communication [C], Language [L], Technology [T], Shapes [S], Form [Fo] & Function [Fu].
Just the first 9 elements in my periodic table of design. I had a sketched idea to try it in one of my notebooks. then saw the periodic table of visualisation methods by Ralph Lengler and Martin J. Eppler, had seen simon pattersons rhodes to reason done in 95' and so kept making notes of things that should be included until had a good structure (below). might have missed things but found some of the elements were already covered under another. any other suggestions please let me know.
Not quite as interactive as the visualisation methods table by eppler and lengler but hopefully equally as useful to overview the topic of design and have a substantially improved awareness of design releated issues/elements.
published here: http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/when-elements-go-extinct
Published on 2008/08/14 10:07 pm.
Filed under: architecture, communication, designs, knowledge, language, praxis, problem, research, science, simon patterson, solving, typographic, visual thinking, visualisation, white space
This is a brilliant, detailed map of business's, brands, owners featuring news corp owning BskyB, 20th century fox films, fox or that Disney own dreamworks, miramax, hollywood pictures.
It is an endless discoverey with a conveneint key to guide you through Bureau d'etudes intricate pictorgraphs.
Microsoft own Corbis, or that Viacom own ABC, MTV, CBS, Nickelodeon & Paramount Pictures.
It is done in a similar vein to my Brands Visualisation although by far more complex and spanning a greater number of brands.
The pictographs a bold black and orange runing through it connecting certain people. Its not just America through there is Silvio Berlusconi who owns AC Milan in Italy, & AGC (Autorita per le Garanzie nelle Communicazoni).
It is magnificent and this is not the only one, there is one for Military & Technology, Banques (Banks), Pharmacuticals...
found: http://utangente.free.fr/index2.html
cheers arnaud
Published on 2008/07/27 12:38 pm.
Filed under: architecture, brand, carto, colour, communication, composition, creative, data, designs, diagram, graphic, iconography, map, media, movie, multiple, pictures, universal, visualisation, words
Cartographer of Complexity. This map is brilliant on so many levels. It has a timeline at the heart mapping its creator's, Arnaud Velten, career from 1992 - 2008.
In a similar vein to the previously posted Life Map by Ritwik Dey it colour codes his subject/interests & locations in to 5 colours Green, Light Green, Yellow, Orange & Red (top left). These are then used as a key to his timeline in the middle near the red circle for 'You are here' I think vous etes ici translates to, my french is limited (but you could presume to start there as it is the first, bold red graphic epicentre almost).
Under the subjects headings for Graphics/Illustration Green are Typography, Creation, & Mise en Page (I think 'read the page' similar to mise en scene). This then progresses to Communication light green, Multimedia yellow, Marketing orange & (I guess, weak french) Intelligence strategies red which is how Arnaud has arrived at Cartographer of Complexity demystifying problems (again, weak french).
In the top right it is very compact and gives extreme depth to this spatial information visualisation (infographic) not through the perception of 3d depth in the 2d form (which is executed brilliantly btw), but actual quantity of data are his competencies of software understanding, frontpage, dreamweaver, corel (similair to freehand), photoshop, flash, indesign, after effects, premiere...
The centre steming from his timeline link off to his jobs, blog interests... so much detail, wish I could read french better as i would probably understand a lot more.
I wonder if his sponsor at the bottom/center, International Bank of Art Money exists.
Absolutely Fantastic Map.
Real Pleasure, thankyou Arnaud.
Featured Here: http://visualthinkmap.ning.com/photo/photo/show?id=2168552%3APhoto%3A543
Found (sent) here: www.as-map.com/ISOMAP.html
High Res PDF here: http://www.as-map.com/ISOMAP-ARNAUD_VELTEN_2007.pdf
Published on 2008/07/23 6:15 pm.
Filed under: 3d, architecture, carto, colour, communication, composition, cv, data, designs, graphic, life, map, multidirectional, non linear, perspectives, solving, spatial, time, typographic, visual maps
Not sure how I found the link but i discovered this intersting little timeline map of modernism. Colourful, capturing your atttention thorugh key with a soft white and grey column background to help seperate each individual year from 1910 - 1950.
Mapping Modernism charts 10 of the influencial designers for the period where you can scroll horizontally to see where these designers were at a point in time & click on the time bars to find out more like a concept map (scroll down for description). You can also see a designer's biography by clicking on their name. Some of the ones I know of being:
Serge Chermayeff
Theo Van Doesburg - De Stijl
E. McKnight Kauffer - his tessalating birds illustration for the underground ads.
& Laszlo Moholy-Nagy
Simliar to my type timeline map.
The exhibition Modernism: Designing a brave New World - 1914 - 1939 was 'the first exhibition to explore the concept of Modernism in depth, rather than restricting itself, as previous exhibitions have, to particular geographical centres or to individual decades. Many forms of art and design are represented in the show. But as befits a period when the debates surrounding how people should live took centre stage, the exhibition focuses on architecture and design. The range of objects – including architectural, interior, furniture, product, graphic and fashion design as well as painting, sculpture, film, photography, prints, collage – reflects the period's emphasis on the unity of the arts and the key role of the fine arts in shaping contemporary visual culture'.
Some of these objects include the Club Chair by Marcel Breuer from the Bauhaus under Walter Gropius's leadership. But also the more graphic genius of Hary Beck's Underground Map that has spawned so many more stylised variations in 1933.
Great Mapping.
Found here: http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1331_modernism/mapping_modernism.html
Published on 2008/07/21 3:12 pm.
Filed under: aesthetic, architecture, art, artefacts, collaborative, colour, communication, concept map, constellations, creative, designs, graphic, mapping, spatial, text, time, tube
This visual map explores the relationships/characteristics of the many different typographers/fonts, artistic movements from 1950 - 2008 charting each decade. This is the second half of the type timeline. First half here: http://visualthinkmap.blogspot.com/2008/05/type-timeline-map.html
It was inspired from Stefan Thermerson 'Kurt Schwitters on a time Chart' featured in the brilliant Typographica NS no. 14, December, 1966 edited by Herbert Spencer (Typographica by Rick Poynor 2001).
Published on 2008/07/15 3:11 pm.
Filed under: architecture, art, composition, creative, designs, diagram, function, graphic, links, playful, poetry, time, typographic, visual thinking, visualisation, white space, writing
This was to visualise the top brands spatially and who owns them/other brands they own also. I started off with well known brand portfolios to visualise them like colgate palmolive but had no direction. So found this top ten list for 2007, and worked from here.
http://www.wonderlandblog.com/wonderland/2007/01/top_ten_most_po.htmle
I liked the vector curved lines like with Maeda's Key magazine covrer post. kept to a soft blue, red pastel palette so you can really visualise the brands and their order, arrangment, ownership.
Was inspired by a car badges brands visual:
coolinfographics.blogspot.com/2008/04/who-owns-car-compan...featured here:
visualthinkmap.ning.com/photo/photo/show?id=2168552%3APho...
Published on 2008/07/03 4:49 pm.
Filed under: architecture, brand, clean, colour, communication, designs, familiar, framing, global, graphic, language, looking, mapping, representation, spatial, spider, universal, visual maps, visualisation
